Course Name: Introduction to

Environmental Science Lab

Course Code: ENV107L

Section: 14

Assignment
Calculating our electricity consumption and answering the questions.
Calculating our Ecological Footprint and answering the questions.

Name: Farzana Akter, ID: 1912978630

Submitted to:
Kabirul Bashar (KBS)
Professor of Medical Entomoly
Dept. of Environmental Science & Management
North South University
Calculating our electricity consumption and answering the
questions.
Electricity Bill of February, 2021

Electricity Bill of August,2021

Question 1: How much did you pay for electricity for that month (Include both including and excluding
vat)? (This may be listed as “Total bill.” Total Dues (Rounded)” is the amount without VAT. Check to
see if your bill includes other utilities, such as gas, or if your bill covers more than 1 month.)

Answer:

Electricity bill paid in February,2021

Total Bill (Including Vat) = 771 BDT

Total Bill (Excluding Vat) = (771-37) BDT

= 734 BDT

Electricity bill paid in August, 2021

Total Bill (Including Vat) = 1276

Total Bill (Excluding Vat) = (1276-61) BDT

= 1215 BDT

SL/Month February,2021 August,2021

Total Bill 771 1276
Total Dues (Rounded) 734 1215

Question 2: How many kilowatt hours of electricity did your household use in that month? (This may
be listed as “meter usage,” “recorded demand,” “kWh consumed,” or “electricity usage.”)

Answer:

The Amount of Kilowatt hours of electricity consumed by my household for February and August are
given below:

Months February,2021 August,2021

KWH Consumed 117 201
Question 3: What is the cost you pay per kilowatt hour? (You have to divide the “Total Energy

Charge” by “KWH Consumed”. “Demand Charge” is the charge that is a set fee paid monthly

or seasonally – most customers pay for the energy they use)

Answer: We know that,

Cost of Per Kilowatt Hour = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒/𝐾𝑊𝐻 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑

In February, 2021

Total Energy Charge= 554.49 Taka

KWH consumed =117

Cost Per Kilowatt Hour= 554.49/117 = 4.739

In August, 2021

Total Energy Charge= 1035.25

KWH consumed =201

Cost Per Kilowatt Hour= 1035.25/201 = 5.150

Months February,2021 August,2021

554.49/117 1035.25/201
Cost Per Kilowatt Hour 4.739 5.150

Question 4: Can you tell from the bill if any or all of your electricity comes from renewable energy
sources? (You may pay extra to ensure a portion of your electricity come from renewable resources.)

Answer: I couldn’t find out if any portion of my electricity comes from renewable sources. As of my
knowledge I think majority of the portion of electricity comes from Non-renewable energy. Because my
electricity provider is DESCO which supplies most electricity in Dhaka city and there is no information
about renewable energy in my electricity bill.
Question 5: Energy efficiency refers to completing a task using less energy input than usual. For
example, an LED light bulb produces the same amount of light as other bulbs, but with less energy.
Where do you see opportunities to become more energy efficient at your home (mention any two
techniques)?

Answer: The opportunities to become more energy efficient at my home are given below:

1. Using eco friendly Air conditioner which are more energy efficient.
2. Making some regular changes like keeping unnecessary electric items off.
3. Using solar energy more in order to save Non-renewable energy.

Question 6: Energy conservation refers to behaviors and actions that people can do to save or use less
energy. For example, turning off the lights when you leave a room is an action you can take that
reduces the amount of electricity you use. Write down any two actions you can take to reduce the
amount of energy you use?

Answer: Here are two actions that I can take to reduce the amount of energy I use in my daily life,

1. I will turn off the lights and fan when I don’t need those or when I leave the room.
2. I will make sure that the water heater is not turned on when it is not needed.

Question 7: Soha is in the market for a new Air Conditioner! One Air Conditioner she likes is energy
efficient, but a bit more expensive and another one is cheap but consumes more energy. According to
you which one she should buy and why?

Answer: Soha should buy the energy efficient Air conditioner even if that is more expensive because in
this way, she will be able to save her electricity bill every month and also, she will be able to save
energy. In the long run she will be paying much less for her air conditioner. If she bought the energy
consuming air conditioner then it will become burden for her in the long run as she will have to pay
much more electricity bill. So, she should buy the energy efficient Air conditioner.

Question 8: The sample bill in slide 8 is for the month of February and the sample bill in slide 9 is for
the month of September for the same household. According to you what can be the possible reasons
for such a difference in the bills for these two months?

Answer: According to me the possible reasons for the difference in the bills in both the sample bills and
my bills are because of the more energy consumption in the month. More use of water heater, air
conditioning and microwave oven are the reasons for the higher electricity charge. We used the electric
devices almost double in that mind which is the main reason according to me.
 Calculating our Ecological Footprint and answering the questions.

Take the screen shot of your ecological footprint results Write down any three suggestions to reduce
your ecological footprints without compromising your lifestyle.

Answer:

Ecological Footprint determines the amount of land needed to support a community's usage of natural
resources while measuring the impact of an individual or group on the ecosystem. As from my ecological
footprint calculation we can see that my ecological footprint is too high and it would require 4.2 earths if
everyone lived like me.

The calculator shows that my ecological footprint is 6.8 and my carbon footprint per year is 13.6. It also
shows that majority of my ecological footprint is carbon footprint, the result shows that 69% of the
ecological footprint is carbon footprint which is too much.

Below is given three suggestions to reduce my ecological footprint without compromising my lifestyle:

1. Using renewable energy more than non-renewable energy is the most effective method to
reduce my ecological footprint. Using bi-cycle instead of motorcycle will be one of the first
thing to do.
 2. Consuming vegetarian diet will help reducing the ecological footprint, also cutting the food
waste will be powerful sustainable levers.
3. If I plant more trees and reduce the usage of hazardous wastes that might be helpful for the
natural ecosystem and also result in well being of us in the long run if more people like me
start to do so. This will also be helpful to reduce my ecological footprint without
compromising my lifestyle.

Why do you think the ecological footprint for the people in Bangladesh is so small? Why is it so large
for people living in the United States?

Answer: The main reason behind the small ecological footprint for the people in Bangladesh is because
most of the people in Bangladesh are living very average life which means they are consuming lesser
electricity, which results in emission of less carbon, the lifestyle of most people does not include to
much of car journey where as people living in the United States have to use rides much more than the
people of Bangladesh. The industrial carbon emission is much less in Bangladesh than of the United
States as there are much less industries in Bangladesh. These are the main reasons for which I think the
ecological footprint is so small for Bangladeshi people than the people living in the United States